Certain watches contain colored components in the dial section of the watch, for instance, to form part of a moon-phase display for indicating the phase of the moon at any given time.
It is desirable for the color characteristic of such watch components to be high quality and precision so as to improve the visual contrast and hence readability of the indicator, as well as enhancing the ornamental and aesthetic qualities of the indicator.
The color characteristics of the watch components may be provided by virtue of the natural colors of the materials forming the components. For example, materials with natural color characteristics typically include metals, metal alloys and metal oxides which tend to have good mechanical properties and are suitably durable for use as watch components. Normally, a gold color may be provided by electro-plated gold, and, a blue color on the hour and minute hands may be provided by an oxidized steel material at a well controlled temperature. The disadvantage with utilizing the natural colors of these types of materials suitable for forming the watch display components is that the range of suitable materials, and colors available, is limited.
Alternatively, a broader range of color characteristics of the watch display components may be provided by painting the components a desired range of colors. However, the quality and sharpness of the contours of colored patterns painted on the watch display materials are unsuitable for use in high-end watches. In order to achieve higher quality of color components in high end watches, gold may be used as a wafer for a moon-phase indicator of a watch with a diamond-like carbon film coating whereby a laser beam is used to remove the diamond like carbon in the desired areas of the watch display to expose the gold wafer. Whilst this method tends to produce a high quality moon-phase display, the processing costs are relatively high and the process efficiency is relatively low.